Cleveland City Council Approves $700M Lakefront Development

Cleveland’s lakefront is getting a makeover. The city has recently approved plans to develop over 20 acres of lakefront property close to Cleveland’s central business district.The project is expected to cost $700 million.

Cleveland’s lakefront is getting a makeover. The city recently approved plans to develop more than 20 acres of lakefront property close to the central business district. The project is expected to cost $700 million.

Cumberland Development is working on the development together with Trammell Crow Co. Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC will provide loan origination and financing strategy beyond traditional debt and equity mortgage banking.

Plans call for the construction of more than 2.2 million square feet, including more than 1,000 apartments, 800 parking spaces, 80,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of retail space, a boutique branded hotel and a charter school serving downtown Cleveland residents.

The project will be developed in three phases. Phase I will include mixed-use development, while Phases II and III call for the construction of residential housing. Each phase will use different sources of capital.

The partners on the project have worked together since the request for proposal phase and will continue to collaborate through its completion. “This project is 25 years in the making and will be transformative for Cleveland. We’re honored to be involved,” Ned Huffman, Bellwether Enterprise president, said in a statement for the press.

Richard Pace, CEO of Cumberland Development, will serve as the principal on the development, managing the project and assuming responsibility for its design, construction and management. “It’s right in the heart of some of Cleveland’s major attractions, and there is no other property like it in the Midwest that has yet to be developed,” he added.

Gilbane Inc. and Coleman Spohn Corp. are the construction managers. The team also includes HKS Architects, URS Corp., SWA Group and Mobius Grey LLC.